Cancer treatment center to open doors in Riverhead Monday

Northville Commerce Park’s first tenant, North Shore Oncology and Hematology Associates, will open its doors Monday, Aug. 4, at the newly constructed Route 58 medical complex in Riverhead.

Oncologist Jeff Vacirca, M.D., the CEO of North Shore Oncology and Hematology Associates, said the 3,600-square-foot private practice features between 10 and 12 chemotherapy treatment areas. It also has a state-of-the art consultative center where patients can benefit from a new technology called tumor profiling that enables doctors to help pinpoint what made patients’ tumors grow, he said. Five oncologists, including Dr. Vacirca, are joining the Riverhead staff.

“For years we have had a tremendous amount of patients who have been commuting to our office from as far east as Montauk and Greenport,” Dr. Vacirca said of the company’s decision to open a Riverhead practice.

The company opened its first offices in Port Jefferson and Smithtown in 1971. Besides Riverhead, it also has offices in Setauket, Islip and Patchogue.

“We want to be able to offer these patients the same care where they live instead of making them commute to western Suffolk County,” he said.

Northville Commerce Park is located at the intersection of Route 58 and Northville Turnpike.

North Shore Oncology and Hematology Associates is Long Island’s only comprehensive community cancer center, Dr. Vacirca said. The distinction means patients are able to receive chemotherapy and radiation and participate in research trials close to home instead of having to travel to New York City for care.

The 28,000-square-foot complex, which contains a total of four 7,200-square-foot buildings, has secured a second tenant for one of its buildings, said Richmond Realty realtor Ike Israel, Northville Commerce Park’s co-owner. He could not disclose the name.

Mr. Israel and his father, co-owner Richard Israel, are still constructing the property’s final two buildings, he said. They expect the work to be completed before the end of the year.

“We had a hard winter so we kind of stopped construction,” Mr. Israel said. “But we’re back on track.”